As the season's first wave of the H1N1 flu virus apparently struck and closed schools in Middletown and Guilford Monday, Gov. M. Jodi Rell again stated her disappointment with the delay in getting Connecticut's share of the H1N1 flu vaccine, adding the entire country has the same problem.

Health directors throughout southwestern Connecticut on Monday were coping with the reduced flu vaccine allotments and balancing their inventories with the needs of those federal health officials say are the most vulnerable populations.

"We need to put pressure on Washington,: Rell said.

Rell, who recently asked the Obama administration for expedited delivery of the state's full allotment of vaccine, said that state health officials will not test entire schools, such as Guilford High School, to see how many affected students have the H1N1 strain. But she said there was no indication that what afflicted the teenagers in Guilford that led to the high school closing Monday was the H1N1 flu.

"They have to do what they believe is right for the student population," Rell told reporters outside South Windsor Town Hall. "I'm confident that the school administrators in our state have taken that message away from every forum we have done at this point."

In July, the state was told to anticipate about 500,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine, but as of last week only 127,600 had been received, Rell said, adding that plans and personnel are in place to vaccinate the various at-risk populations, including public safety workers, pregnant women and children.

Nationwide, about 160 million doses have been planned, but only 30 million have been distributed.

"We've asked the federal government to speed up production and to make sure that we can get not only the seasonal flu shot, but the H1N1 as well," Rell said. "Don't tell us what you're giving us and then fall 50 percent short of that.

The most vulnerable are children ages 6 months to 5 years old, adolescents and adults under age 52.

Rell, speaking after a news conference in which she announced a deal with a developer of a movie studio in South Windsor, said that Guilford school administrators are not sure if the H1N1 flu -- also known as swine flu -- had indeed struck.

"What they found was that 40 percent plus of their students were out sick or had called in sick," Rell said. "They're very concerned, but they don't know it's swine flu. It could be any number of things, so we have to be prepared for that."

The H1N1 virus has not yet become a major problem in the state, but health professionals are standing by and waiting for the arrival of more vaccine.

"There are only so many times you can tell the health care folks in this state and the nurses that are lined up to be patient, it's coming," Rell said, stressing that national health care officials should update the way vaccines are created and distributed.

She said that the seasonal-flu vaccine, a different inoculation, has practically disappeared in the state because of the intense general interest in influenza, sparked by fear of the H1N1 strain.

"The fact is we're running short because so many people started it earlier," Rell said. "There has to be 21st century technology, not just for now but in the future, should there be another pandemic in future years," Rell said.

If there's any good news, the governor said, it's the fact that federal health officials are now saying that a single vaccination is recommended, rather than two per person as planned during the summer. "Now one vaccination is sufficient," she said. "We'll actually have that second dose ready to go, to be the first dose for many people."

Meanwhile, several southwestern Connecticut health departments said Monday that even though requests for the H1N1 vaccine are increasing, they haven't yet been overwhelmed by masses of people demanding vaccine.

Fairfield Health Director Sands Cleary said his town has been working hard to accommodate everyone who needs a shot but "there's obviously more demand than there is vaccine." Last week, Fairfield received 700 doses of the intranasal form of the vaccine, and while part of the allotment was given out at a clinic held last Friday, the rest will be administered during a clinic later this week.

Only members of the at-risk groups have been able to receive the vaccine. The intranasal vaccine Fairfield is using contains live virus, so there are certain high-risk groups that can't receive it, including pregnant women.

The injectable form of the vaccine, which has already been distributed to some health departments, can be given to a wider array of people. Fairfield hasn't yet received that form of the vaccine and Cleary isn't sure when the town will get new doses of vaccine.

Though the town hasn't been besieged with requests, Cleary said he's well aware that the supply hasn't been big enough to accommodate everyone. "We allocated all our doses and there's still more people who want it," he said.

To help keep things manageable, Fairfield's clinics are by appointment only. Also, Cleary wouldn't reveal the day or location of this week's clinic to help prevent walk-ins.

Bridgeport's clinics are also by appointment only, and held twice a week, on Wednesday and Friday.

Unlike Fairfield, Bridgeport does have doses of the injectable H1N1 vaccine. Although the city is doing a pretty good job of keeping up with the demand for the vaccine, some people who don't fall into the priority groups have been put on a waiting list, said Elizabeth Rodriguez, emergency preparedness coordinator for the city's Department of Public Health. "We have to meet those priority groups first," she said.

Like Rodriguez and Cleary, Stratford Health Director Lisa Pippa was cautiously optimistic about keeping up with the demand for vaccines. However, she said, requests for H1N1 vaccine recently jumped, as the district received 200 doses of the injectable form of the vaccine. Stratford's clinics are also by appointment only and, when the town only had the intranasal spray, request for appointments were minimal.